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Tight vs Very - What's the difference?

tight | very |

As adjectives the difference between tight and very

is that tight is firmly held together; compact; not loose or open while very is true, real, actual.

As adverbs the difference between tight and very

is that tight is firmly, so as not to come loose easily while very is to a great extent or degree; extremely; exceedingly.

As a verb tight

is (obsolete) to tighten.

tight

English

Adjective

(er)
  • Firmly held together; compact; not loose or open.
  • :
  • Fitting close, or too close, to the body.
  • :
  • Of a space, etc, narrow, so that it is difficult for something or someone to pass through it.
  • :
  • :
  • Of a turn, sharp, so that the timeframe for making it is narrow and following it is difficult.
  • :
  • Under high tension.
  • :
  • *{{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham), title=(The China Governess)
  • , chapter=17 citation , passage=The face which emerged was not reassuring. It was blunt and grey, the nose springing thick and flat from high on the frontal bone of the forehead, whilst his eyes were narrow slits of dark in a tight bandage of tissue. […].}}
  • *{{quote-news, year=2011, date=November 10, author=Jeremy Wilson, work=Telegraph, title= England Under 21 5 Iceland Under 21 0: match report
  • , passage=The only negative from a comfortable first-half was the sight of Aston Villa’s Nathan Delfouneso being withdrawn with a tight hamstring after only 11 minutes.}}
  • Well-rehearsed and accurate in execution.
  • :
  • Lacking holes; difficult to penetrate; waterproof.
  • * 1965 , MotorBoating , page 145
  • He reported the hull was tight and secure and did not leak a drop.
  • *2014 , Ian Black, " Courts kept busy as Jordan works to crush support for Isis", The Guardian , 27 November:
  • *:Security is tight inside and outside the building, guarded by a bewildering collection of soldiers, policemen and gendarmes. Relatives watch as prisoners in handcuffs and leg irons shuffle past.
  • *2014 , , " Southampton hammer eight past hapless Sunderland in barmy encounter", The Guardian , 18 October 2014:
  • *:The odd thing was that Sunderland made the better start and showed early signs that they might pose serious problems to the Premier League’s tightest defence.
  • (lb) Intoxicated; drunk or acting like being drunk.
  • :
  • *2001 , (Gaelic Storm), Johnny Tarr'' (on the album '' ):
  • *:Johnny walked into the Castle Bar, looking to get tight .
  • (lb) Intimately friendly.
  • :
  • (lb) Extraordinarily great or special.
  • :
  • Mean; unfair; unkind.
  • *1977 , Willy Russell, Our Day Out , Act One, Scene One:
  • *:Reilly: Ey, Miss, hang on, hang on... can we come with y', Miss? Can we?
  • *:Digga: Go on, Miss, don't be tight , let's come.
  • *2001 , Kevin Sampson, Outlaws , p.244:
  • *:"Ah leave him, ay!" goes one of the girls. "Don't be tight'." I turns to her. "Don't you think it's ' tight terrorising old ladies? Ay?"
  • *2011 , Andrew Hicks, "Thai Girl: A story of the one who said 'no'", unnumbered page :
  • *:"That's right ... so even when life's a grind, the Thais keep smiling. They think the farang are a miserable lot who have to get drunk to enjoy themselves."
  • *:"Dutch, that's tight mate, I mean what's wrong with getting pissed. When you're not working, you gotta have a good time," said Darren.
  • Miserly or frugal.
  • :
  • (lb) Scarce, hard to come by.
  • :
  • (rfd-sense) (ux) Not conceding many goals.
  • (lb) Not ragged; whole; neat; tidy.
  • *(John Evelyn) (1620-1706)
  • *:clad very plain, but clean and tight
  • *(Thomas Gray) (1716-1771)
  • *:I'll spin and card, and keep our children tight .
  • *
  • *:“A tight little craft,” was Austin’s invariable comment on the matron; and she looked it, always trim and trig and smooth of surface like a converted yacht cleared for action. ¶ Near her wandered her husbandfrom time to time squinting sideways, as usual, in the ever-renewed expectation that he might catch a glimpse of his stiff, retroussé moustache.
  • (lb) Handy; adroit; brisk.
  • :(Shakespeare)
  • (lb) Of a player, who plays very few hands. (rfex)
  • (lb) Using a strategy which involves playing very few hands. (rfex)
  • Synonyms

    * (pushed/pulled together''): close, serried (''of ranks ), tight-fitting (of clothes) * (narrow ): narrow * (under high tension ): taut, tense, under tension * (well-rehearsed and accurate ): polished, precise * (intimately friendly ): close, close-knit, intimate * (slang: intoxicated''): ''See also * (slang: extraordinarily great or special ): ace, cool, fab, rad, slick

    Antonyms

    * (pushed/pulled together''): baggy (''of clothing or other material ), loose, sagging, saggy, slack * (narrow ): broad, capacious, open, roomy, spacious, wide * (under high tension ): loose, relaxed, slack * (well-rehearsed and accurate ): slack, slapdash, sloppy * (slang: extraordinarily great or special ): crap, naff, pathetic, rubbish

    Derived terms

    * airtight * as tight as a duck's arse, tight as a duck's arse * as tight as a gnat's chuff, tight as a gnat's chuff * dust-tight * finger-tight * in tight * light-tight * skintight * steamtight * supertight * tight as a tick * tightass * tight closure * tighten * tight end * tight-fisted * tight-fitting * tight-knit * tight-laced * tight lattice * tight-lipped * tightly * tightness * tightrope * tights * tightwad * tightwire * tighty whities * uptight * watertight * weathertight

    Adverb

    (en adverb)
  • Firmly, so as not to come loose easily.
  • Make sure the lid is closed tight .
  • Soundly.
  • Good night, sleep tight.

    Synonyms

    * (firmly ): fast, firmly, securely * (soundly ): soundly, well

    Antonyms

    * (firmly ): loosely * (soundly ): badly, fitfully

    Derived terms

    * hold tight * sit tight * sleep tight

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • (obsolete) To tighten.
  • ----

    very

    English

    (wikipedia very)

    Adjective

    (en-adj)
  • True, real, actual.
  • :
  • *Bible, (w) xxvii. 21
  • *:whether thou be my very son Esau or not
  • *(John Milton) (1608-1674)
  • *:The very essence of truth is plainness and brightness.
  • *(Edmund Burke) (1729-1797)
  • *:I looked on the consideration of public service or public ornament to be real and very justice.
  • *
  • *:Turning back, then, toward the basement staircase, she began to grope her way through blinding darkness, but had taken only a few uncertain steps when, of a sudden, she stopped short and for a little stood like a stricken thing, quite motionless save that she quaked to her very marrow in the grasp of a great and enervating fear.
  • *{{quote-news, year=2012, date=November 7, author=Matt Bai, title=Winning a Second Term, Obama Will Confront Familiar Headwinds, work=New York Times citation
  • , passage=The country’s first black president, and its first president to reach adulthood after the Vietnam War and Watergate, Mr. Obama seemed like a digital-age leader who could at last dislodge the stalemate between those who clung to the government of the Great Society, on the one hand, and those who disdained the very idea of government, on the other.}}
  • The same; identical.
  • :
  • *
  • *:Molly the dairymaid came a little way from the rickyard, and said she would pluck the pigeon that very night after work. She was always ready to do anything for us boys; and we could never quite make out why they scolded her so for an idle hussy indoors. It seemed so unjust. Looking back, I recollect she had very beautiful brown eyes.
  • With limiting effect: mere.
  • *, I.40:
  • *:We have many examples in our daies, yea in very children, of such as for feare of some slight incommoditie have yeelded unto death.
  • Synonyms

    *

    Adverb

    (-)
  • To a great extent or degree; extremely; exceedingly.
  • :
  • *
  • *:Then his sallow face brightened, for the hall had been carefully furnished, and was very clean. ¶ There was a neat hat-and-umbrella stand, and the stranger's weary feet fell soft on a good, serviceable dark-red drugget, which matched in colour the flock-paper on the walls.
  • *, chapter=13
  • , title= The Mirror and the Lamp , passage=“[…] They talk of you as if you were Croesus—and I expect the beggars sponge on you unconscionably.” And Vickers launched forth into a tirade very different from his platform utterances. He spoke with extreme contempt of the dense stupidity exhibited on all occasions by the working classes.}}
  • True, truly.
  • :
  • Usage notes

    * When used in their senses as degree adverbs, "very" and "too" never modify verbs.

    Synonyms

    * (to a great extent) ever so, (l) (dialectal), (l) (archaic), (l) (dialectal)

    Statistics

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    Anagrams

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